Season 2 Episode 04: Ruler of the Theatre
"Ruler of the Theatre" (劇場の支配者, Gekijou no Shihaisha) is the fourth episode of the second season of the Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon anime series. It was released on July 28, 2012, and was directed by Satoshi Toba. Musashi Ariadust Academy immerses itself in the festivities during the night before the grand opening of the Joint Spring School Festival between England and Musashi. Overflowing food and drink and relaxing bathwater soothes the minds of the Far Easterners on English soil before serious talks happen between the two countries. Synopsis May 20, 1648 TE. On the night of May 20 on the shores of England, Shirojiro Bertoni announces the party before the first day of the school festival between Oxford Academy and Musashi Ariadust Academy. Immediately, the air carries the scent of grilled meat and vegetables, and the festivities begin. Nate takes the chance to pile up all of the vegetables into a large bowl and gobbles it up before Masazumi Honda, who sits beside her, could react. It turns out that Nate eliminated all of the vegetables so that she could have her way with the meat, and Masazumi could only comment on how wolf-like Nate's obsession with meat is. The two are soon accompanied by Toori and P-01s, both holding a large plate of meat each. Toori brought the large plates for Nate, which was sent by Heidi. Immediately, Nate was entranced by the scent of meat and she quickly brings it to her side using the Argenteés Chaînes, only to be taken aback by Horizon's offering of meat drenched in sauce. Masazumi watches in disbelief as Nate sits like a tame pup as Horizon feeds her meat. Meanwhile, Tenzou and "Scarred" quietly eat on a separate table. "Scarred" soon decides to ask about how Tenzou was able to eat while not needing to take off his scarf, and Tenzou tells her that he uses ninjutsu to accomplish it. "Scarred" then watches as Tenzou swiftly gives Makiko Oriotorai, who is in a table near his, some more beer to drink. She asks Tenzou about how he feels doing things for the sake of others, and Tenzou responds by saying that he enjoys doing so. "Scarred" wonders if this brings him hardships, and Tenzou just tells her that a ninja must hide his feelings whenever he follows orders. Their conversation is soon interrupted by a bird wearing the clothes of Oxford Academy. This bird, who introduced himself as the crow named Milton, stops Tenzou from talking to "Scarred", considering him as an enemy, but Tenzou was able to silence him by feeding him some grilled meat — which is ironically fowl meat. Tenzou then proceeds to answer "Scarred", telling her that he is obligated to participate in the recreation of history, and he is honored to become even a minute part. Soon, Tomo Asama, who is preparing fried rice on the table beside him, soon notices a familiar bird where Tenzou is, and she quickly goes on alert as she identifies the bird as a yatagarasu that needs to be cleansed. Milton soon finds himself in a bind and tries to fly off, only to find himself in the crosshairs of Tomo's bow. Tomo soon wonders why one was able to survive in England, and "Scarred" explains that beings like Milton aren't that abundant in England than in the Far East. Toori catches up to the conversation and decides to ask "Scarred" about the Nikyou Crest, since he thinks that "Scarred" seems to know about earth pulse interactions. After Tenzou shows her what a Nikyou Crest looks like, "Scarred" tells them that England is also conducting an investigation about them. Masazumi then asks about the specifics of the investigation, but "Scarred" refuses to give any more specific info than a key location named Avalon. Nonetheless, Masazumi is relieved to have found out that England also has information about the Nikyou Crest. Tenzou soon hands over a gold coin to a Kobold as payment for constructing the hot spring bathhouse to be used by the students. In response, the Kobold throws the coin to the ground before taking it, much to Tenzou's anger. Soon, Toori decides to give Tenzou and "Scarred" the first chance of trying out the bathhouse for the first time, although it was more of "checking out if it is safe" than anything. Tenzou is flustered at the thought of bathing with "Scarred" (especially he knows that "Scarred" is a she"), but "Scarred" decides to go with it anyway. Tenzou tells everyone to not peep, to which Naomasa responds with "Why would we want to peep at you?" Meanwhile, Adele feels something suspicious between the two, and Ginji laments at the disgusting thoughts he had after hearing Adele's statement. Margot and Malga, however, doesn't seem to mind, especially since they know that England is Protestant and would not have any problems with that. Then, Azuma comes and asks the two angels about sex. As the entire Class 3-Plum gasps at Azuma's question, Naruze turns blue and Margot becomes uneasy at the topic. Malga decides to "pass the ball" at Masazumi, who soon finds herself with the task of enlightening the minds of Azuma, P-01s and Futayo. Meanwhile, Tenzou finds himself in an equally precarious position with "Scarred" inviting him to join her in the bath. Things eventually become more serious as Musashi, led by Masazumi, decide on their next move. Masazumi plans to have a meeting with England on the following day, and she asks Toori to decide on what to do next, thinking that she wouldn't like to make decisions when Toori is capable. Toori plans to have a date with Horizon, taking the chance to talk about things with her personally. However, Horizon refuses, seeing emotions as unneeded, and the means of acquiring them as dangerous and may cost lives. Toori decides to push on with the date despite Horizon's strong refusal, thinking that it might be the way for Horizon to reconsider, and Horizon eventually accepts Toori's offer, after knowing that Toori still treats her like Horizon Ariadust and not the automaton P-01s. With the plans finally laid out, Masazumi draws the meeting to a close. However, Adele finds out that the Lype Katathlipse has gone missing. Everyone's "What?" resounds in the night air. Inside the bathhouse, Tenzou and "Scarred" share a tub and there, Tenzou notices the scars covering her body, to which he comments that "Scarred" probably faced her opponents head-on. However, he also says that "Scarred" might have been tired of the bloodshed, and it shows her honorable character. Tenzou's words of praise moves "Scarred" to tears, and Tenzou decides to give her a moment to dry her tears alone. It was at that time when a small piece of wood flowed down from the spring and upon touching it, "Scarred" feels a repulsive force in it... an anti-ability coating. Suddenly, "Scarred" remembers the time when Tenzou stopped her from using her ability on Musashi's cargo ship, and she realized that Tenzou knew that it would have been dangerous for the children if she fired upon the ship at that time. "Scarred" quickly steps out of the tub and gives Tenzou a hug from behind. The feel of "Scarred" breasts against his skin brings a jolt in his body as "Scarred" looks for the wound that Tenzou had received at that time. She then offers to heal Tenzou's wounds through a kiss, to which Tenzou agrees shyly. As Makiko knocks herself out with beer, the ladies of Class 3-Plum go in to the bathhouse. Each of them try their best to look for the Mortal Sin Armament, but the immense size of the Musashi proves a challenge. Tomo, on the other hand, decides to perform a particular ritual to reassign Masazumi to a new Mouse. Using a bucket and a stick with several shimenawa on it, she initially cancels the contract Masazumi had with Mikawa. Tomo explains that Masazumi is still bound to a contract that is sealed upon birth, which lacks a portable form and eventually gave weak protection to her — this explains Masazumi's feelings of starvation. Masazumi admits that the process of getting a Mouse appears daunting to her, so Tomo decides to streamline the process by offering a multipurpose Mouse for the meantime (which gives out a random Mouse) and setting aside a personal contract to a god for later. Masazumi agrees to this and pushes a button provided by Hanami, and soon, a box containing her new mouse appears. To Masazumi's surprise, she acquires an anteater. The encounter between the anteater Mouse and her new master appears to be problematic as Masazumi discovers that the Mouse is young and is not used to the outside world, but Masazumi decides to keep the Mouse. The others congratulate Masazumi for acquiring a Mouse for the first time, and Suzu is so elated by it that she faints (or is she in the water for too long?). Adele catches her just in time, but soon realizes that Suzu has bigger "assets" than her. Adele swears at her misfortune, only to be scolded by Tomo. The next day, Adele, Futayo and Suzu leave with Charles Howard, Ben Johnson and F. Walsingham aboard the Granuaile for a short trip to London. Some voice out their concern for their classmates, but there's no time to waste. Shirojiro soon asks everyone to start working in the preparation for the joint school festival. Within the next four days, Musashi Ariadust Academy and Oxford Academy prepare for the join school festival, and on May 25, the start of festival proper is announced by Masazumi alongside Oxford TRUMPS' Robert Dudley. At the start of the Joint Spring School Festival, everyone goes to their respective destinations. As Toori and Horizon begin their date on the streets of London, Toussaint sets up a stall inside London's Fellow Enthusiasts' Event Grounds, where a conference of authors is taking place; to Toussaint's surprise, Thomas Shakespeare visits him. Meanwhile, Kimi Aoi, Tomo Asama, Nate Mitotsudaira, Malga Naruze and Margot Knight, dressed in their best attire, walk the streets of London. On their way, a boy offers to become Kimi's companion, but Kimi, in response, ties one of her ribbons on the boy's arm instead. She later explains to Tomo that what she did was a gesture which meant that she refused the boy's offer but shows her gratitude for the offer in the form of the ribbon. Kimi then turns to Nate, asking her about tracking down Toori through scent. Nate assures Kimi that she has Toori tracked well, while the two Technohexen commend Nate's ability. Soon, the skies above the six Musashi girls become occluded by something, and they discover a ship of Tres España heading towards the London Tower. Aboard, Diego Velasquez and Gin Tachibana lock their sights on the London Tower. At the shores of England, Tenzou and "Scarred" hear the sound of bells from a distance. "Scarred" identifies it as coming from the London Tower, the place where the "Double Bloody Mary", Mary Stuart would appear. "Scarred" asks for Tenzou's opinion about Mary Stuart's execution for the failed assassination of Queen Elizabeth... the event that would also trigger the Anglo-Spanish Armada War, to happen at the end of the festival. Tenzou answers by telling "Scarred" that he knows that Mary Stuart would not die when that event happens. "Scarred" agrees; she tells Tenzou that Mary would be "saved" at that day. Tenzou voices out his relief, but quickly apologizes after that. Meanwhile, Toussaint quickly becomes a slave to Shakespeare's orders as she sits beside him. Soon, the skies over London turned into a reddish hue, and words flow once more from Shakespeare's head. Toussaint is surprised at the sudden turn on events, and Thomas calmly explains that she is simply preparing the battlefield using another of Shakespeare's works: the comedy "Much Ado About Nothing". In an instant, the stage has been set, and chosen players are given their roles. What is left is for the curtains to rise. Characters By order of appearance New Characters *Milton Trivia Cultural References *The yatagarasu (lit., "eight-span crow") is a mythical bird in the form of a crow with three feet. It is said that the appearance of one symbolizes divine intervention in human affairs. Quotes *"This has been puzzling me for a while now, but how are you able to eat with that scarf on?" "It's a ninjutsu." — Tenzou answering Scarred's question about his unusual eating habit Category:Episodes Category:Season 2 Episodes